US-Turkey Cooperative Research: Post-Seismic Deformation for the 1999 IZMIT/DUZCE Turkey Earthquake Sequence

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

0001143 Reilinger Description: This award is to support the collaboration of Dr. Robert Reilinger, Principal Research Scientist, Earth Resources Laboratory, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Aykut A. Barka, Professor of Geology at Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, and Dr. Semih Ergintav, the Marmara Research Center, Gebza, Turkey in research to monitor and analyze post-seismic deformation for the 1999 Turkey earthquakes. Other collaborators include Dr. Roland Burgmann, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, California, and Dr. Kurt Feigl, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France. The 1999 earthquakes in Izmit (M=7.4) and Duzce (M=7.1) resulted in continuous surface break along a 150-km segment of the western North Anatolian fault, with right-lateral surface offsets reaching 5 m. This research builds on earlier studies of strain accumulation along the fault system (1988-1999) and recent studies of co-seismic and post-seismic deformation for the Izmit event. Ongoing work supported primarily by the Turkish partners to define the details of the Duzce earthquake co-seismic fault slip will be critical to the modeling effort. The tight constraints on secular strain and co-seismic fault slip for these events and the detailed monitoring of the early phase of post-seismic motions provide an important opportunity to develop the observations needed to constrain models of after-slip and viscoelastic relaxation. Distinguishing the possible contributions of these mechanisms has implications for the rheology of the continental lithosphere and localized rheology in the fault zone. The results will enhance our understanding of the mechanics of earthquake cycle in this and similar tectonic regions (such as the San Andreas fault). Scope: This project will support important collaborative research for which the primary support is provided by NSF's Division of Earth Sciences. This award will support the travel, living expenses and field expenses for the US scientists while in Turkey and partial support for the foreign scientists while visiting MIT. The latters' participation in field research and meetings at MIT is expected to lead to improvement in the fieldwork and in the interpretation of the results obtained and the conclusions to be reached. The project fits well with the objective of the Division of International Programs for encouraging mutually beneficial collaboration on research of important scientific problems. Funding for this project is provided by the Division of International Programs and the Division of Earth Sciences.